5 ms·

It would cause companies to pay secretly and illegally instead, something which cryptocurrencies enable. Ban cryptocurrencies. They are the cause of the ransom

It would cause companies to pay secretly and illegally instead, something which cryptocurrencies enable. Ban cryptocurrencies. They are the cause of the ransomware epidemic.

COGlory 5y ago
Unless they were globally banned, companies could secretly and illegally pay ransoms in them anyways.
- ghaff 5y ago
  They possibly could but a lot of executives would probably prefer that their soon to be ex-company took a hit than that they became personally liable for breaking a federal law.
  - sokoloff 5y ago
    “We purchased security consulting services who were able to decrypt our ransomware-infected files. We’re not sure of the exact method they used but it worked.”
    - ncallaway 5y ago
      Lawmakers have dealt with this problem for a long time. It’s well solved. If they wanted to prevent this kind of behavior there are two straightforward approaches: - make it also illegal for the consulting company to pay a ransom. - attach Strict Liability to any ransom payment, even if made through an intermediary. The executives quoted above from the paying company could still face criminal liability for such a payment disguised with plausible deniability https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strict_liability https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strict_liability
Jtsummers 5y ago
> Ban cryptocurrencies. This is meant sincerely, not glibly: How? How can cryptocurrencies be banned in any meaningful sense? We can "ban" them in a legal sense ("Use of cryptocurrencies are illegal after 1 Jan 2022"), great. But how can they be practically banned so long as computers themselves are not invaded by governments to observe every detail of their operation and private overlay networks are still technically feasible?
- AlexandrB 5y ago
  Cryptocurrencies are basically securities. If it's difficult or impossible to exchange fiat currency for cryptocurrency and vice-versa, the value of cryptocurrency drops to basically nothing. What's the point of owning a security you can't sell to pay your taxes/mortgage/electric bill? Even if cryptocurrency<->fiat transactions continue to be legal in other jurisdictions, making it illegal to trade USD for $crypto would make it very hard for a US company to pay cryptocurrency ransoms making such schemes much less lucrative.
- JumpCrisscross 5y ago
  > How can cryptocurrencies be banned in any meaningful sense? By banning them? In the law? Enforcement would probably pay for itself, plus some. Throw in a whistleblower bonus, like the SEC has, if you want it to run on autopilot. More aggressive: level repeated 51% attacks. This is well within the budget of any of the G7.
- paxys 5y ago
  They can easily ban all exchanges which convert USD <-> BTC from operating within the US. If that is enforced, Bitcoin will effectively be dead in the country.
- GauntletWizard 5y ago
  You don't need to. Absolutely, if you ban cryptocurrencies, only criminals will have cryptocurrencies. It will, however, add friction - and make it harder to acquire and launder the funds involved. I think a complete ban on cryptocurrencies is unlikely to succeed, for much the same reasons that the US hasn't banned guns and that the war on drugs is such a shitshow. A punitative tax: 10% of every transaction, for example, would still make cryptocurrencies viable for some extreme schemes, but would make the practice much harder and help establish the "real identity" -> Bitcoin address audit trail. Al Capone was busted on tax evasion, after all.
- helen___keller 5y ago
  > This is meant sincerely, not glibly: How? How can cryptocurrencies be banned in any meaningful sense? The main avenue would be by getting rid of the sanctioned on/off ramps for crypto (that is, crypto exchanges), leaving only the illegal on/off ramps which I'm sure exist. This obviously wouldn't stop everybody, but it would certainly be a deterrent for all but the most motivated and well-connected of buyers. At that point, exchanging a large amount of crypto would be similar to laundering a large sum of dirty money; possible, but not trivial and certainly not an "easy out" for a major corporation experiencing a ransomware attack.
JumpCrisscross 5y ago
> companies to pay secretly and illegally instead, something which cryptocurrencies enable…Ban cryptocurrencies In what world does a ban on paying ransoms get wantonly evaded while a ban on cryptocurrencies does not?
ceejayoz 5y ago
"Banning doesn't work, they'll just do it secretly. The solution is to ban something else that's even harder to stop."
kache_ 5y ago
I have a better idea, we should make ransomwaring illegal. That'll definitely stop it from happening.

It would cause companies to pay secretly and illegally instead, something which cryptocurrencies enable. Ban cryptocurrencies. They are the cause of the ransomware epidemic.

COGlory 5y ago

Unless they were globally banned, companies could secretly and illegally pay ransoms in them anyways.

ghaff 5y ago
They possibly could but a lot of executives would probably prefer that their soon to be ex-company took a hit than that they became personally liable for breaking a federal law.
- sokoloff 5y ago
  “We purchased security consulting services who were able to decrypt our ransomware-infected files. We’re not sure of the exact method they used but it worked.”
  - ncallaway 5y ago
    Lawmakers have dealt with this problem for a long time. It’s well solved. If they wanted to prevent this kind of behavior there are two straightforward approaches: - make it also illegal for the consulting company to pay a ransom. - attach Strict Liability to any ransom payment, even if made through an intermediary. The executives quoted above from the paying company could still face criminal liability for such a payment disguised with plausible deniability https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strict_liability https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strict_liability

Jtsummers 5y ago

> Ban cryptocurrencies. This is meant sincerely, not glibly: How? How can cryptocurrencies be banned in any meaningful sense? We can "ban" them in a legal sense ("Use of cryptocurrencies are illegal after 1 Jan 2022"), great. But how can they be practically banned so long as computers themselves are not invaded by governments to observe every detail of their operation and private overlay networks are still technically feasible?

AlexandrB 5y ago
Cryptocurrencies are basically securities. If it's difficult or impossible to exchange fiat currency for cryptocurrency and vice-versa, the value of cryptocurrency drops to basically nothing. What's the point of owning a security you can't sell to pay your taxes/mortgage/electric bill? Even if cryptocurrency<->fiat transactions continue to be legal in other jurisdictions, making it illegal to trade USD for $crypto would make it very hard for a US company to pay cryptocurrency ransoms making such schemes much less lucrative.
JumpCrisscross 5y ago
> How can cryptocurrencies be banned in any meaningful sense? By banning them? In the law? Enforcement would probably pay for itself, plus some. Throw in a whistleblower bonus, like the SEC has, if you want it to run on autopilot. More aggressive: level repeated 51% attacks. This is well within the budget of any of the G7.
paxys 5y ago
They can easily ban all exchanges which convert USD <-> BTC from operating within the US. If that is enforced, Bitcoin will effectively be dead in the country.
GauntletWizard 5y ago
You don't need to. Absolutely, if you ban cryptocurrencies, only criminals will have cryptocurrencies. It will, however, add friction - and make it harder to acquire and launder the funds involved. I think a complete ban on cryptocurrencies is unlikely to succeed, for much the same reasons that the US hasn't banned guns and that the war on drugs is such a shitshow. A punitative tax: 10% of every transaction, for example, would still make cryptocurrencies viable for some extreme schemes, but would make the practice much harder and help establish the "real identity" -> Bitcoin address audit trail. Al Capone was busted on tax evasion, after all.
helen___keller 5y ago
> This is meant sincerely, not glibly: How? How can cryptocurrencies be banned in any meaningful sense? The main avenue would be by getting rid of the sanctioned on/off ramps for crypto (that is, crypto exchanges), leaving only the illegal on/off ramps which I'm sure exist. This obviously wouldn't stop everybody, but it would certainly be a deterrent for all but the most motivated and well-connected of buyers. At that point, exchanging a large amount of crypto would be similar to laundering a large sum of dirty money; possible, but not trivial and certainly not an "easy out" for a major corporation experiencing a ransomware attack.

JumpCrisscross 5y ago

> companies to pay secretly and illegally instead, something which cryptocurrencies enable…Ban cryptocurrencies In what world does a ban on paying ransoms get wantonly evaded while a ban on cryptocurrencies does not?

ceejayoz 5y ago

"Banning doesn't work, they'll just do it secretly. The solution is to ban something else that's even harder to stop."

kache_ 5y ago

I have a better idea, we should make ransomwaring illegal. That'll definitely stop it from happening.